Bloody Fangs
by Ruel-chan
Summary: Wolves haven't existed in Konoha in 150 years. After a quarrel with her best friend Ino, Sakura takes a shortcut through the woods where she encounters a wolf. She can't get the wolf out of her mind, and decides that she will find out why the wolves left and why they're back. But at the same time she has to deal with the school's popular guy, Kiba Inuzuka. KibaSaku. AU.


Disclaimer: I don't know if it's really necessary to write this, but I don't own any of the characters.

* * *

**Bloody Fangs**

Chapter 1: Wolf

* * *

The house was filled with drunken teenagers making out at every corner or dancing to loud bass beats. It was a normal Saturday night for the students at Konoha High. As usual the house was a mess after just a couple of hours of booze and dancing, and some poor parents would come home to broken vases and windows. This Saturday night the party was held at the Inuzuka residence. The house was big, and the family was well known for their wealth, making the host of the party fairly popular—fairly being an understatement. The person mentioned was currently grabbing yet another beer whilst some random girl pleaded for a dance. Being as popular as he was, he could pick and choose whichever girl he wanted, and this girl was not his taste. Finding a girl more suited to his taste, with a beer in one hand, he danced with her. No one could deny the girl was gorgeous. She had bronze skin, soft brown hair, and a physic most girls would kill for. Currently boys all around the room were jealous that he got her, despite all their efforts to get a dance with her.

Still, the girl that was presently walking into the room caught his attention like no other girl did. She didn't have the long legs the bronze-skinned girl had. Her own skin was pale like a vampire's, and her hair was dyed pink. She was no way near as blessed with curves as the girl he was dancing with, yet his eyes went to her whenever she was in the same room. He watched as some wasted guy asked her for a dance, which she rejected. His drunken ass didn't give up. Shortly he was dragging her with him. She pulled her wrist out of his grasp, but that apparently made the guy only want her more, and he held around her waist. When he tried to kiss her, the line was drawn, and the guy was crouching in pain after she gave him a good punch in the stomach. That made the Inuzuka smirk. This girl really was intriguing.

Said girl walked out of the room again and out on the balcony, hoping no more drunken guys would make passes at her. The air was chilly but refreshing. She honestly didn't want to be at the party, but her best friend had convinced her that she needed to "relax". How being at a place with a lot of drunken teenagers and loud music could be considered relaxing, was beyond her. She had drunken a beer herself, forcing the contents of the bottle down her throat. The taste had been horrible. Now she regretted that she had told her friend that she would consider to go. She should've known her friend would have won her over; she always did. Somehow her friend was a master at making her do things she didn't want to. Suddenly someone stepped out on the balcony. She turned her head, only to find out it was the Inuzuka. He didn't say anything, but stood beside her. She gave him a weird look, which he only raised his beer to, as if greeting her. She moved a little more to the left, increasing the distance between them. He smirked at that, which earned him yet another weird look. She eventually turned her head away, turning her gaze to the starlit sky. They stood like that for a while.

Another guy came out on the balcony, requesting that he would come back in. Supposedly it was some party event that the host had to present at. She went back in too, but for a different reason. He watched her as she left the party. When she stepped outside the enormous house, and walked across the supposedly "yard" that was more the size of a parking lot, she looked up at the sky. The stars were beautiful, however, the moon was even more captivating. The moonshine lit her way along with the old streetlights. The almost circle shape was known to have a face, but she couldn't see it.

Nonetheless she saw that it wasn't long till the full moon.

* * *

Her pink hair was swaying back and forth as she walked down the corridors of her school. Yet again she found herself around hundreds of other teenagers, but in a completely different scenario. Instead of holding beers and being all over each other, they held books and hurriedly walked past each other. She found her locker, and because of her usual bad luck, she couldn't get it to open. Somehow she had been cursed with the locker that intents to make your high school experience less enjoyable than it already is. She was suddenly hugged, which made her body slam against her locker.

"Sakura!" her best friend cried. "You bailed on me at the party and you wouldn't answer my calls yesterday." Her grip loosened a bit. "You don't hate me, do you?" she asked with a sad pout. Sakura pried her friend's arms off her.

"Ino, I don't hate you. Partying is not my thing, okay? And I had a biology report I had to finish. If I had answered your call, I would've never been able to finish it." Ino's eyes suddenly widened.

"A biology report?" she asked. "DUE TODAY?" Sakura had to hold her hands over her ears, hoping she would still keep her hearing after her friend's screaming.

"Sakura, please?" she begged. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"No. You've got to learn to do your own homework." Her best friend pouted again, but Sakura refused to give in. She got her way too often. Sakura turned to her locker again. That damn thing would be getting smashed to pieces if it didn't start to cooperate soon.

"Ah, Sakura," Ino put an arm around her shoulder, "your luck sometimes sucks, huh?"

"Thanks for reminding me," Sakura replied.

"But not always," Ino chirped. Sakura gave her a questioning look. "I heard you spent some time on the balcony with a guy. Or more like _the _guy."

Sakura rolled her eyes again. "Whatever you heard, it wasn't like that. He just…stood there." Ino grabbed her shoulders, making her face her way.

"Kiba Inuzuka doesn't just stand beside anyone, okay? I don't know why he stargazed with you, but count yourself as a lucky girl." Their current topic of conversation shortly walked down the corridor. As always he attracted girls like moths to a flame. Sakura didn't see the big fuzz, but her friend certainly did.

"Ino, stop staring. You're eyes are gonna pop out."

"Just because you're asexual doesn't mean I have to be," Ino replied. Sakura sighed. She turned to her mortal enemy again. With full force she slammed her fist in the locker, which didn't open it, but it earned her a dented locker and a hurt fist.

"Ah, damn," she cried out. She held her hurt hand close to her chest, hoping the pain would miraculously disappear.

"Ow," she whimpered. Her best friend, whom she supposed would give her some sort of comfort, only continued to stare at the Inuzuka as he walked past them.

"What a great friend," Sakura mumbled. She looked at her locker again. It evidently refused to be opened today. She guessed she'd yet again get an earful from her teacher.

Her first period was chemistry, which she was glad she didn't share with Ino. She liked Ino, but she wasn't exactly the best seatmate. Instead of focusing on what the teacher said, she'd rather talk, which would get them both in trouble. It wasn't that Ino was stupid; if she had actually cared to get good grades, she would've. However, she apparently thought that the high school experience was meant to be fun and exciting; traits she didn't find in textbooks and biology reports.

Sakura found her seat beside Shikamaru Nara. He was a lazy ass, and it was a miracle he had gotten as far as junior year. He would only work when he was in danger of failing, and in those times he was obviously a genius. In every class he took, he barely passed, putting in no more effort than he had to. This put her in a stressful situation every time they had to work together, because in reality that meant she had to do work for two. The teacher asked the class to quiet down their chattering. As usual Sakura was a good student who wrote down everything the teacher said, despite not having her textbook to look at the illustrations. In the middle of taking notes, she felt someone staring at her. She raised her gaze. No one was looking. When she looked down, she could feel it again. She turned her head around, and a pair of black eyes stared into her own green ones.

"Borrow me your textbook, ugly." Sai said. He was her grade's artistic freak.

"Get lost, Sai," she whispered.

"You don't have it either, huh?"

"Do you have to speak so loudly?"

"You know…I've never understood the point of whispering."

"Sakura, Sai. If you don't quiet down, I'll have to put you in detention," the chemistry teacher threatened.

"There you got your answer, idiot," Sakura whispered harshly.

"Sakura, detention after school. One hour."

She rose from her seat. "What? No! I—"

"Do you want two hours?" The teacher cocked an eyebrow. "You don't even have your textbook." Clenching her teeth together, she sat down again.

"Who's the idiot now?" Sai whispered. She tightened her fists. That guy was despicable.

When the bell rang, she walked outside the classroom with her head hanging low. This sucked. She had work after school, and her boss wasn't very forgiving about coming too late. She dialled her boss's number.

"Hey…I'm coming late today… Yeah, I understand… I get that, but I have detention. No, I don't usually get detention; I'm actually a pretty good student… Because my classmate—No, I shouldn't blame someone else… Yes… Bye."

"What happened?" She almost threw her phone in the air when someone suddenly spoke to her.

"Ino! You scared me."

"You got detention?" Ino asked. Sakura nodded. A smirk formed itself on Ino's face.

"Model student Sakura got detention. Wow, what's happening to the world?" Ino said in a dramatic fashion.

Sakura sighed. "Whatever. We have biology next." They walked towards their next class.

"You're not gonna get your book?"

"I've had enough of that locker."

Ino suddenly grabbed Sakura's shoulder. Kiba Inuzuka had just walked past them, and she got excited by the mere look of his back.

"Damn, that ass." Or maybe it wasn't his back.

"You're hurting my shoulder," Sakura complained. Ino tightened her grip even more.

"Why can't you understand, Sakura? He's _hot_."

"I don't know… He's just not my type, I guess." Sakura shrugged. Ino got frustrated with her friend sometimes. She seemed to have no interest in love whatsoever. Even though she said he wasn't her type, she had never talked about anyone else either. It was like she really didn't care about anything besides school and work.

As always, Sakura and Ino sat together in biology.

"Aw, there are no cute guys in this class," Ino complained.

"You say that everyday," Sakura muttered. She scribbled in her notebook, waiting for her teacher.

"Why are you drawing lots of hearts?" Ino asked. She suddenly gasped. "Are you in love?"

Sakura let out a sigh. "No, I'm not."

"Yeah, sure… "

"I'm not!"

"You better not be hiding something from me!" Ino squinted her eyes as she looked at her friend. "It's not wrong to fall in love, you know."

"I'm aware that you're obsessed about getting me a date, but it's fine. I like being single."

"No, no, no! Sweetie, that's not what a teenage girl should be saying." Ino had invited Sakura to join the party in hopes that she would meet someone. Of course she had hidden that from her friend, or else she would've surely refused.

"I just want you to be happy, Saku…"

Sakura smiled gently at her. "I am happy."

After detention, which Ino had gotten too because of her chattering, they walked together to Sakura's job.

"Okay, Kiba isn't your type… However, there's surely someone out there whom you will be attracted to. Maybe you're not that much into looks. Maybe…" Ino cringed when saying it, "you think it's what's on the inside that counts…which is totally romantic."

"Yeah, I can see by the expression on your face that you really mean that."

"Come on, Sakura! It's Kiba Inuzuka, he's—"

"_Why_ are you so obsessed with him?"

"Everyone is! He's filthy rich, handsome, athletic, hot, sexy, gorgeous, sexy—"

"What great qualities!" Sakura sarcastically retorted.

"You really do care about what's on the inside."

"How shallow can you be?"

"Oh, you know what I mean! Yes, it's good that a person is nice and kind, blah, blah, blah. But when you look at a person, you don't see the personality!"

"So when you date people, do you never get to know them and only look at them? Because you've been with a lot of douches."

Ino crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Are you criticizing me?"

"Kind of, yes."

"I know your mother had a bad experience getting involved with a hot bad boy, but that doesn't mean everyone else's story turns out like hers."

"This isn't about my father!"

"You still call him that?"

"Seriously, what is wrong with you?" Sakura shook her in a disappointment. She couldn't believe her friend would drag her father into all of this. With a swift motion, she turned her heels and angrily left her best friend standing there looking miserably after her.

"Sakura, I'm sorry," Ino yelled after her. She sighed. Number one thing she was bad at: shutting her mouth.

Sakura didn't look back once. She knew she would get in trouble for not showing up at work, but her boss was ready to fire her anyway. Now he'd at least have a real reason to do it. Her eyes were watery, but it was more out of anger than sadness. Her mother always told her that she was too emotional. She would cry when she was sad, when she was angry, when she was happy, and even when she was stressed. It made her weak, her mother told her. Weak women were easily seduced by bad men. Sakura had learned early on that a good outside didn't mean a good inside. She had been nine years old when her father had left them. Seven years had past quickly, but not without the hope that he would one day come back. Three years ago she had stopped hoping. Her mother had remarried a great guy. In these three years, he had been more like a father to her than her biological father ever was throughout those nine years. Some people said she even looked more like him.

Sakura would normally take a bus home, but she didn't feel like seeing a lot of people at the moment. She chose to walk. There was a shortcut through the woods, which she had only taken once. After her father had told her to never go there again, she never had. It was awfully quiet between the trees. While it was calming, and she could think without the sound of a car or a person interrupting her, the atmosphere was strange. It was early spring, and still no birds were chirping. The sunshine streamed in between the trees. The image before her eyes was beautiful. She got a strange feeling again. The woods were beautiful but frightening. It didn't feel like such a good idea to take the shortcut after all. Her father had been a bailing asshole, but he could have been serious about not going into the woods. She guessed there wasn't a long time before she was out of the woods, so she began running, hoping she would soon see the road again. When it felt like she had run way longer than she expected she would have to, she stopped. Her heart was beating rapidly from running, but also because fear started consuming her. She continued walking, knowing she would get out of there sooner or later. The air got colder. She looked up at the sky. How long had she walked? The last time she had walked there, it hadn't taken this long. Maybe she had taken the wrong path. The sun was gone. It was evening now, but she saw no signs of an exit. Suddenly the sound of broken branches echoed throughout the woods. She quickly turned around.

"H-Hello?" Her voice was weak, fearing there was a mad man tracking her. "Is there anybody there?" In the corner of her eye, she could see a shadow swiftly move. She turned around again. Carefully she picked up a heavy branch, hoping it would be enough to guard her if necessary.

"I-If there's anybody there, come out!" She tried to sound unafraid, but both her voice and her shivering hands gave her away.

"Come out!" she repeated. Suddenly she could see a flash of something moving again, and instinctively her legs ran, despite her efforts of staying calm. She had seen movies; you weren't supposed to look back. Only look forward, and run—one foot in front of the other. Fast. Her pulse increased. She thought her heart would jump out of her chest. Where was the end of the woods? Sakura completely stopped in her tracks when a creature suddenly stood before her. Her chin started shaking. It had thick, grey fur. Its eyes were glowing. Its teeth were sharp and dripping with blood. There was a wolf standing in front of her. However, Sakura had never heard about wolves around here. It growled at her. She tried to get out of her trancelike state, but when she thought about running again, the animal jumped forward. Everything went black.

* * *

Sakura slowly opened her eyes, adjusting them to the bright light. The sanitary smell immediately gave it away that she was in a hospital. How she had gotten there, though, she wasn't sure.

"Sakura, honey," her mother's voice said. Sakura looked to her left. Her mother held her hand with a worried look on her face.

"What am I doing here?" Sakura asked.

"I found you on the doorstep. You were blacked out. Although you weren't visibly hurt, I wanted to make sure you were okay, so I brought you here." She pushed her daughter's hair out of her face. "How do you feel?"

"I'm all right," Sakura answered.

"Your head doesn't hurt?"

"No, I'm fine." She gave her mother a reassuring smile.

"Wait, you said I was at the doorsteps?" Sakura questioned. Her mother nodded. She furrowed her eyebrows. How did she end up on the doorsteps? The last thing she could remember was a wolf. She thought she was going to die.

"Sakura?" her mother asked. Her eyes looked concerned. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, Mom."

"Sakura!" Her stepfather came storming in the door. "You're awake!" he exclaimed happily.

"Kizashi," Sakura greeted. He quickly walked up to her bed and placed a hand on her forehead.

"How do you feel?"

"My mom has been tormenting me with that question already," Sakura laughed. "I feel fine."

"Just tell me if there's something you need," Kizashi said.

"Thanks." Sakura turned to her mother. "When can I leave?"

"The nurse just needs to check up on you first."

Sakura let her head fall down on the pillow. The wolf was mysterious. Perhaps she had just seen things. As far as she knew, there were no wolves in Konoha.

After the nurse had checked up on her, she walked out of the hospital room. The nurse had told her that it was nothing to worry about, probably just exhaustion. If the wolf had really been there, she knew that couldn't be the case. And why couldn't she remember anything between the woods and the hospital? Sakura couldn't comprehend how she ended up on her doorsteps. Her mother and Kizashi were waiting in the car. She walked down the hospital corridors consumed in her own thoughts when she walked right into someone.

"I'm so sorr—" The person in front of her smiled at her. "—y." She stepped to the side, making room for the person to pass by.

"Hi," he greeted. "Sakura, right?"

"Yeah…" she answered hesitantly, wondering how on earth he knew her name.

"I'm—"

"Is there anyone at our school that doesn't know who you are?"

He chuckled. "What are you doing here?"

"I fainted," Sakura answered.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she answered, which felt like the hundredth time already.

"Well, I have to go. Gonna meet my sister who works here, so…see you at school." He gave her a light wave before he left.

"Sure…" Sakura didn't understand why the guy her friend always talked about, Kiba Inuzuka, had talked to her.

When she got home, she realised her boss had called her several times. With a huff she sat down on her bed, not wanting anything to do with him at the moment. Her phone suddenly vibrated. It was probably her boss again, so she let it ring. When it wouldn't stop ringing, she gave it a sceptic look. The persistency of the caller made her realise it wasn't her boss. She pushed the green button.

"Ino…"

"Sakura!" her friend exclaimed from the other line. "I'm so, so, so sorry about earlier! I know I shouldn't have mentioned…him. I'm such a bad friend—"

"Ino, it's fine. You're not a bad friend." Sakura could hear her friend's relieved sigh.

"By the way, why do you sound kind of weird?"

"It's dawn, Ino. I'm tired." Ino laughed sheepishly. "And I just got out of the hospital," Sakura added.

"WHAT?"

Sakura had to hold her phone half a metre from her ear. "It was nothing…probably just exhaustion."

"And your mother didn't call me and tell me you were in the hospital? Mebuki and I need to have a little chat," Ino stated. Sakura snorted amusedly.

"How did you end up in the hospital?"

"I fainted."

"WHAT?"

"Do you want my eardrum to explode?"

"I can't believe no one told me."

"Well…I was busy being unconscious."

"Witty. How are you feeling now?"

"Please let me not answer that." The line went quiet for a moment. "I saw your dream prince at the hospital today."

"Who?"

"Your beloved Inuzuka."

"WHAT?"

"Ino…"

"Hey, I was allowed to scream excitedly there! Seeing him outside of school…you lucky girl."

"He knew my name. Isn't that a little weird?"

"Uh, you go to the same school, you know. Not to mention you have a class together."

"What are you talking about?"

"You're kidding me, right? He's in your chemistry class."

"Really? I've never noticed him there."

"You've noticed art freak Sai, but you haven't noticed him? Come on!"

"Um, sorry?"

"Thinking of it…Sai doesn't look too bad himself."

"See you at school."

"Sakura, wait!"

"What?"

"I love you, bestie!"

"Love you too."

* * *

The next day in chemistry class, Sakura scanned the room to see if what Ino had said was true. On the same row as her, two desks away from her, she saw that it was indeed true. Kiba Inuzuka was sitting there, and probably had been for the whole year. Discreetly she texted Ino.

"_**U were right. He's in my class."**_

"_**don't rub it in my face! u gonna talk 2 him?"**_

"_**That's your wish, not mine."**_

"_**u can get 2 know him 4 me!"**_

"_**No way."**_

"_**i was kidding! would b cool to get 2 know him tho. we could hang out in his house all the time!"**_

"_**Weirdo." **_

The chemistry teacher coughed. "Sakura, no texting in class."

She smiled guiltily. "Right, sorry…"

The incident with the wolf came to her mind. She had never heard about wolves in this district before, and it made her wonder. Abruptly she raised her hand.

"Yes?" The teacher pointed at her to speak.

"Are there…wolves in Konoha?" she asked a little hesitantly. The teacher looked at her weirdly.

"No, there are no wolves in Konoha. Why?" he asked. Some of her fellow students giggled, which earned them an annoyed glance.

"Umm…there's really nothing. I just thought it would've been cool if there were," she answered.

"Wolves are dangerous animals, Sakura. They kill humans." He looked at her with a serious look in his eyes. "You wouldn't want them around here." His eyes were intense, and for a second Sakura couldn't look away.

"Do they sometimes attack without really hurting anyone?" she asked, ignoring the hand up before talking rule.

"Attacking without hurting someone? Don't you hear how absurd that sounds?"

"I mean…do they ever just jump at their prey, let it faint, then leave it?"

The teacher slowly walked towards her. When he stood right in front of her desk, he placed his hands on it, and leaned forward. "They jump on their prey, rip their throat out, then feed on their flesh. That's how wolves are."

Sakura and Ino had lunch by their favourite broad-leaved tree.

"It's still a bit too cold to sit here, isn't it?" Ino asked.

"Yeah, but it's nicer here than at the cafeteria filled with cliques and judgemental eyes following you everywhere," Sakura replied.

"That's just brats who are jealous of you having a hot best friend—me—who makes sure you're a part of the cool guys."

"Thanks for the high honour." Sakura got up on her feet, and jokingly bowed.

Ino giggled. "But it's partly because you're hot too."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I appreciate that you let me be hang out with your other friends, but honestly, I'd rather not be a part of any clique."

Ino smiled. Sakura was so different than her in many ways. "Wanna join me at the mall later?"

"Sorry, I've got school work."

"You'd rather solve equations than spend time with me?" Ino asked in disbelief.

"I'm surprised you even know what an equation is."

"Aw, you're so sweet, Sakura. Come with me this once."

"Ino…"

"Sakura, please. Is it too much to ask for to spend some time with my best friend?" Ino's puppy eyes stared right at her, while her own flickering ones tried not to look into them. "Please," she implored.

"Fine, I'll join you!" Sakura sighed. Ino really got her way too often.

After an incredible amount of walking from one store to another, making Sakura's feet ache and the smile on Ino's face broaden, they found a café to rest at.

"I don't want to walk ever again," Sakura complained as they sat down.

"Don't be a baby. We now have a lot of new cute clothes to wear. It's the prize of wanting to chop your feet of," Ino said lightly. It didn't make Sakura's feet hurt any less.

When they ate at cafés, Ino always ordered cupcakes, and Sakura was always forced to order something sweet too. Girls could be scary. If they were gaining weight, you'd better be gaining weight with them.

"Can I ask you something weird?" Sakura asked. Ino looked at her with curiosity.

"Sure, what is it?" Ino asked.

"Have you ever seen wolves?"

"Uh, sure."

"Really? You really have? I mean, like, here in Konoha?"

"No, at TV. There was some animal program. Ugh, it was SO boring. Something about packs and alphas—"

"So you haven't seen any wolves in Konoha?"

"What are you talking about? There haven't been any wolves here for 150 years," Ino replied.

"What? So you're saying that they actually _have_ existed in Konoha before?"

Ino nodded. Sakura stared at her with big eyes. "Can they come back?"

"I thought you were supposed to be the person to know stuff like this?"

Sakura snorted. "Just because I pay attention in school doesn't mean—The alphas choose where the pack goes. Maybe they left because they had no prey, and now they're back because they have hunting ground again. That sounds logical…right?"

"Saku, what do you mean 'they're back'?" Ino asked.

"Nothing," Sakura answered quickly.

"What, what, what? You've really got me curious now. There are wolves in Konoha?"

Sakura sighed. "Please don't laugh, but yesterday when I walked away from you, I took a shortcut through the woods—"

"You mean the one your father...?"

"Yes. And there I suddenly heard something. I started running because I was scared, and then out of nowhere a _wolf _stood in front of me."

Ino looked at her, waiting for her to continue. "And? What happened?"

"I don't know. Everything went black after that."

"Are you serious?"

"No, I just made something up for fun. Yes, I'm very serious!"

"Okay, relax!" Ino leaned forward. "You're not on crack, are you?"

"What?"

"Well, maybe you just _think_ you saw it. Ah! Maybe it was because of exhaustion."

"I saw a wolf because of exhaustion?" Sakura asked doubtfully.

"And then you fainted. Because. Of. Exhaustion." Ino tapped her fingers on the table at the last three words.

"Before I fainted, the wolf bounced at me. I saw a wolf! It's not like it's weird, is it? They have existed here before, and now they do again."

"If you don't think it's weird that you saw a wolf, then why are you freaking out about it?"

Sakura didn't answer.

"You thought you were on crack too?"

"Ugh, no! The weird thing is that the wolf jumped at me, but I don't have a scratch! A predator attacks me, but I only faint?"

"Maybe you're overthinking things," Ino suggested.

"And wolves live in packs. There definitely has to be more than one around here."

"Overthinking things, Sakura," Ino repeated.

"The wolf didn't howl at his pack. Why didn't it? Is it an omega?"

"I think we should just forget this whole wolf deal, and happily consume these cupcakes."

"How long do you think it's been here?"

"Apparently you're ignoring me…"

"I'm sorry… I just don't get it. The whole wolf deal, I mean," Sakura sighed.

"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. Maybe your guardian angel saved you," Ino joked.

"Yeah… Your boyfriend's walking by." Ino's eyes widened and stared at the people passing by the café.

"How did you know?" she asked.

"Huh?" Sakura looked at her weirdly.

"How did you know about my boyfriend?"

"I was just joking. Kiba passed by."

"Oh…"

"Wait, you have a boyfriend?" Sakura asked. She gasped dramatically. "And you haven't told me?"

"Because you'll only trash talk him!" Ino explained.

"No, I won't," Sakura denied, offended that her friend would think so.

"Oh, come on, Sakura. You always look down on my boyfriends, calling them names and making assumptions that they will break my heart."

"And they always do!"

"I can take care of myself, thank you. But seriously, Kiba walked by? And I didn't see it!"

"I thought you had a boyfriend?"

"That doesn't mean I can't admire other guys!"

Sakura snorted. Ino was Ino, with or without a boyfriend. "What's your boyfriend's name?"

"Suigetsu Hozuki. He attends Taka High, and he's the same age as us."

"Taka?" Sakura scrunched her nose. "I've never heard a single good thing about that school."

"See? You're already starting."

Sakura opened her mouth to harshly comment on Taka's students involvement in crime and drugs, but she changed her mind. "I'm sorry. I'm just worried."

"I can take care of myself," Ino repeated. Sakura smiled a wry smile.

"Anyway," Ino said, changing the subject, "what do you say about a sleepover this weekend?"

"Assuming you don't mean a sleepover _party_, then yes, I would love that," Sakura replied.

"Well, I was thinking we'd invite a couple of boys over, drink tons of beer…" Ino trailed off, giving her friend a teasing smile.

"If you had invited guys, I would've chased them down the street with a rolling pin," Sakura joked.

"I don't doubt that," Ino laughed. "You probably would've rolled your shirtsleeves up and put your hair in a bun too."

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows. "I never said I was going to chase them like an old grandma."

Like usually the cupcakes were eaten with a following rant from both of them about their terrible eating habits, how much sugar there was in coke, and that they should work out more. Of course they never began eating healthier or working out more; they were simply two average teenage girls.

The following day Sakura finally answered her boss's call. They were both clear on the fact that she didn't work there anymore. He fired her and she was indifferent about it. That didn't stop him from giving her an hour-long lecture about her terrible attitude and sloppiness.

Sakura found herself very psyched about the sleepover. After a rather unpleasant week, it would be nice to spend time with Ino, locking her stress away in a box for a while. It would surely find the key out of there, but she decided to enjoy every moment life didn't hate her.

"Sakura, babe! It's the most gorgeous woman ever entering your bedroom!" Ino shrieked. She had a big bag around her shoulder and a big smile placed on her face.

"When are you going to learn to ring the doorbell?" Sakura asked without looking up from her homework.

"Oh, no, hun!" Ino marched up to her and snatched her math book from her.

"Hey!" Sakura protested.

"I didn't come here to do…whatever foreign language is written in this book!" Ino had a placed on her hip.

"I only had a little left!" Sakura crossed her arms and stared stubbornly at her blond friend.

"You know you can't win me over by giving me a look." Ino smirked. "Works with you, though," she added. Sakura quickly got up from her seat and tried to take the book back. Ino opened Sakura's closet and threw the book in there, quickly closing it shut.

"Ino!" Sakura scowled at her.

"Boohoo, you can't do math," Ino said sarcastically. She sat on Sakura's bed and opened her bag.

"Here are all the things we need for a successful sleepover. Nail polish, chick flicks—"

"Did you bring Mean Girls?" Sakura almost screamed.

Ino rose an eyebrow. "So you do get excited by other things than schoolwork."

Sakura faked a laugh, and helped Ino sorting out her DVDs, hoping her favourite chick flick was in there somewhere.

"Ino, why do you have a book about animals?" Sakura questioned. Ino typically didn't read, especially not factual books.

"I thought you might find something about wolves in there. You've seemed kind of stressed about it the whole week," Ino explained. Sakura smiled and looked at her friend warmly. Girls at her school—like girls at most schools—liked to gossip about each other, and Sakura knew some girls thought her best friend was an airhead who only thought about herself. Sakura knew how caring Ino really was. She didn't easily forget when people told her about things that troubled them, and if she could, she would help.

"I know you could have looked it up on the Internet, but for some reason you like those dry pages with black ink." Sakura opened the book and looked through it. When she found the pages about wolves, she read about behaviour and territory.

"It stands their territory expands in the winter, because they have to move along with their prey. That means they probably could leave a territory completely if there were no prey left there," Sakura mumbled, half to herself half to Ino.

"But…we have deer and moose, not to talk about hares; my father always complains about our 'hare problem'," Ino said. Sakura rubbed her forehead.

"Do you think I'm…stupid for caring so much about this?" Sakura asked hesitantly.

Ino smiled and put her arm around her friend, slightly hugging her. "I think you need to spend some quality time with your best friend and not worry about school or a possible wolf in the woods. Let's eat junk food, watch a chick flick, paint our toenails and scrunch our noses at horrible dress choices celebrities have made on the red carpet." Sakura snorted. Sounded typically Ino, but it also sounded perfect.

"We better watch Mean Girls!" Sakura said with an index finger pointed at her friend. Ino lowered her almost threatening finger, and waved the cover of Mean Girls in her hand.

"Time to adore Lindsay Lohan when she was at the peak of her career."

Sakura always cried when Cady abandoned Janis and Damien and turned into the new Queen Bee, and Ino would always tease her about it.

"Here, more chips," Ino offered her the chips bowl, which she gladly accepted. Sakura took a glance out her window. The full moon was the next night. Full moons were pretty, but they stirred bad memories in Sakura's mind. He had left them on a full moon nine years ago. Both girls slightly jumped when someone knocked on the door. Her mother's face was shortly visibly in the door crack.

"Hope I'm not bothering you girls. We're going to bed now. Have fun." They said goodnight and she left again. When Sakura turned to Ino, her eyes were looking expectantly at Sakura.

"What?" Ino had a scheming smile, and Sakura knew that meant trouble.

"What?" she repeated solemnly.

"Since your parents are going to bed, let's sneak out." Her eyes shone with excitement. Sakura shook her head in refusal. "No. Absolutely not. Why do you always want to end up in trouble?"

"Oh, come on, Sakura! Gotta have a little excitement in your otherwise boring life."

"Wow, thanks."

"I know you want to."

"Hypnosis, or whatever you trying, is not going to work."

"Come one!" Ino's pouting lips made her look like a child.

"We haven't even watched the whole movie."

"It's soon finished anyway! Besides, we have watched it a billion times already. You know the ending inside and out." Sakura refused to look at her, signalising that she wasn't going to join yet another stupid idea of Ino.

"You even know the all the lines, it's freaky."

"I want to watch the movie," Sakura stated.

"Okay, then. After the movie, we'll go out." Sakura swiftly turned her head to Ino, meaning to tell her that was never going to happen, but a bowl was shoved in her face.

"More candy?" Ino smirked.

The movie was over and they had painted their toenails, which Sakura originally hadn't wanted to do, but whatever helped putting Ino's mind off the idea of sneaking out was worth it.

"For the tenth time, that dress is ugly."

"I think it looks good."

Ino sighed. "What would you do without me? You would probably look like a mess."

"Hey! I pick out cute clothes."

"But you can't differentiate between a pretty and an ugly dress. Let's sneak out."

Sakura sighed. "You're still on that?"

"We watched the movie, we've painted our toenails and judged celebrities, and otherwise talked about meaningless things. It's almost dawn, and I think we should have some real fun!"

"What is there to do outside at night anyway?" Sakura questioned.

"Du-uh, it's the excitement of doing something against your mother's will, and maybe we'll crash a party—"

"I thought you promised no parties?"

"We agreed on not having a sleepover party, but going to a party at our sleepover is totally different." Sakura decided to ignore Ino completely, hoping Ino would forget the whole deal.

"Fine," Ino said. "If that's how it is, I guess I'll go alone."

Sakura snorted. "Sure." She continued to look in the magazine. A creaking noise was heard from the window, and Sakura quickly snapped her head in its direction.

"Ino!" She ran up to the window and looked down at the grass. A smiling blonde looked up at her.

"What are you doing, Ino?" Sakura hissed quietly, trying to avoid alarming her mother.

"Going out for a walk," Ino simply responded.

"It's dangerous to go out alone! Ino! Ino, wait!" Sakura bit her lip as her friend ignored her and continued walking. She wanted to scream in frustration. Ino was out of sight. She began climbing down the window. Her foot slipped when she was nearly safe on the ground and she fell down.

"Damn, Ino, you better have fun wandering the streets at night," Sakura grumbled. Ino was smirking when she caught up to her.

"Your moves are so predicable," Ino said. "I knew you would follow me." She linked her arm around Sakura's.

Sakura huffed. "Now, what are you plans?"

"Just taking a nightly stroll with my best friend," Ino replied. Sakura looked at her suspiciously.

"I don't want to go to a party," Sakura said sternly.

"Fine, I won't force you to do anything."

"Yeah, right. You forced me to sneak out."

"I didn't force you. You came on your own."

"Sneaky bastard," Sakura grumbled. She looked down at her trousers. "Ino, I'm wearing pyjamas bottoms."

Ino looked at her friend and laughed. "Aw, you were that worried about me. You didn't even have time to change."

"Seriously! I'm walking outside in my pyjamas."

"Chillax. It's in the middle of the night. Doubtfully we'll meet anyone, and those we do meet are so drunk they won't even know if you're wearing any clothes at all." They walked to a park, which lied right beside the woods where Sakura had seen the probable wolf. Ino ran to a bench and acted like it was a scene.

"And now, please welcome the wonderful, the beautiful, Miss Ino Yamanaka!" Ino used her hand as a microphone, and before Sakura got to tell her to be quiet, she began singing.

"S.O.S. she's in disguise,

S.O.S. she's in disguise,

There's a she wolf in disguise

Coming out, coming out, coming out."

"Ino, sssh! You'll wake someone up!" Sakura didn't manage to quiet Ino down, rather she began singing even louder.

"There's a she wolf in your closet

Open up and set her free

Aoooooo."

Sakura couldn't help laughing at Ino's pathetic howling.

"Hey! It's not that easy to howl like a wolf," Ino claimed. Sakura held a hand in front of her mouth, failingly trying to lower her snickering. Ino jumped off the bench.

"Please show me how it's supposed to be done then," Ino said.

"No, I'm not going to howl at the middle of the—"

"Scared you suck?"

"Well, it can't get much worse than your howl," Sakura said.

"Then please howl for me, scaredy-cat," Ino provoked. Sakura huffed and gave her friend a look that told her how childish she thought she was acting.

"Fine." Sakura coughed, feeling ridiculous for doing this. She howled. Loudly. It was absolutely nothing like Ino's howl, hers had been weak and screeching. Sakura howl was loud and deep. Ino stared at her in shock.

"What was that?" she asked, laughter arising. She grabbed her friend's shoulders. "That was awesome! Seriously, what was that?"

Sakura laughed with her. "I have no idea." They began walking.

"An owl!" Ino exclaimed.

"Where?"

"No, listen. Can't you hear it?" Sakura stopped and listened. She could hear it. Owl hoots echoed throughout the park. Sakura quickly turned her head to the woods. She had seen something. It was like a shadow—just like on Monday. Ino was still walking.

"Ino, run!" Sakura yelled. Ino turned around her and looked at her confused. As Sakura ran past her, she quickly grabbed her hand and dragged her with her.

"Sakura, what's happening?" Ino yelled.

"Don't talk, just run!" Ino tried to get out of Sakura's grip, but she was too strong for her.

"Tell me what's going on!"

"I saw something!"

"Saw what?" Ino asked.

"A shadow in the woods," Sakura yelled. "Now, just run!"

"This is ridiculous! Maybe it was a hare," Ino suggested.

"It wasn't," Sakura mumbled, too low for Ino to hear.

"This is ridiculous—"

"Just shut up and run!" Sakura shouted. Her breath was hitching. Whatever that was, it wasn't a hare; she knew that much. They were far away from the woods already, but Sakura didn't stop. Ino looked worriedly at her friend. She didn't know if she really had seen something, but whether it was real or not, Sakura was scared. She figured the woods might remind her of her father. Ino knew her friend was still hurting over the fact that her father left her. They had been so close—maybe best friends, and then suddenly he was gone. Sakura's running was too much for her, though, and shortly she tripped in her own feet, which made Sakura trip too, right after hitting someone coming the opposite direction. The three of them was somehow entangled in each other. Sakura held her head, Ino her bleeding knees. They both stared surprised at the person in front of them.

"Do you have a thing for walking into other people—this time running?" the person asked. Sakura quickly got up on her feet, Ino following her suit more slowly, her eyes still widened in mild surprise. She then reached her hand out.

"Sorry, Kiba," she said in a sweet tone, which made Sakura roll her eyes. Kiba got up himself, ignoring Ino's helping hand. Sakura snorted, which earned her an elbow to her side.

"Kiba, what are you doing here?" Ino asked.

"Going home from a party," he answered.

"Who's?"

"Just… somebody's." Sakura noticed his furrowed brows, and his fists that were slightly clenched. He seemed annoyed and stressed.

"Um, why do you have twigs and leaves in your hair?" Ino reached her hand out to remove them, but Kiba shoved her hand away.

"I just took a shortcut through the woods," he answered. Sakura's eyes widened.

"When? Just now?" she asked. He nodded.

"Did you see anything? Some kind of animal?"

Kiba shook his head. "I didn't see anything. It was just me." Sakura looked confused down, scrunching her forehead in a furrow.

"Well, I've gotta go. Nice pyjamas," he remarked as he walked past them. Ino told him goodnight and waved at him.

"Maybe it was him you saw," Ino suggested.

"Maybe…"

They walked home to Sakura again. No one had noticed they had been gone, but Sakura gave Ino an earful about how they were never doing that again.

"You're such a scaredy-cat," Ino remarked as she changed into her pyjamas.

"Oh, sorry that I was scared a beast might've eaten us alive!" Sakura sarcastically retorted, childishly throwing a stuffed animal at her.

"It was probably just Kiba," Ino said. Sakura shook her head. She wouldn't believe that shadow was a human.

"You think it's a wolf again," Ino stated. Sakura sighed.

"The shadow reminded me of what I saw on Monday. I know you may not believe that I actually saw a wolf, but I'm so certain."

"You know what is weird?" Ino asked. "Kiba _walked_ home from a party. Would've thought he would've driven."

"Maybe he was drunk," Sakura suggested, a bit annoyed that Ino would change the subject to him again.

"His family has chauffeurs, though. Damn, talking about not using your richness." Ino fell down on Sakura's bed. "If I had a chauffeur, I would've made him drive me everywhere." She leaned on her elbows and looked at Sakura. "You're reading about wolves?" Sakura closed the book Ino had brought her, and turned her attention to her.

"Let's sleep." They turned off the lights and lay in bed. Sakura had problems sleeping. She watched the dark sky that would soon go light again. She was perhaps becoming unhealthily obsessed about it, but she would find out more about the wolf and why it had come back after 150 years.

* * *

_**To be continued.**_


End file.
